Leading Senior Healthcare Services Provider Replaces Cisco and Aerohive with Aruba Instant Controller-less Access Points for more than 200 Locations
MAITLAND, FLORIDA – July 15, 2014 – Consulate Health Care, the nantion’s sixth largest provider of senior healthcare services and the largest in Florida, announced that Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN), has been chosen as the vendor of choice to provide a major wireless network upgrade for Consulate. When fully deployed, the network will include 2,700 Aruba Instant controller-less access points (APs), to connect Consulate’s 200+ care centers across 21 states.
Understanding the importance of employing the newest and best forms of technology to aid its employees in meeting resident and patient care needs, Consulate sought to upgrade its aging wireless infrastructure. The organization’s existing Cisco and Aerohive equipment was unable to provide the scalability and security Consulate requires to serve the more than 600 company-issued mobile devices and thousands of guest devices connecting to the network daily.
To address these challenges, Consulate selected Aruba to provide the stable, reliable and secure infrastructure the organization was seeking. According to Consulate’s Chief Information Officer, Mark Crandall, the Aruba deployment will help the organization in meeting three of the core business drivers that were central to its wireless network initiative: continually improving Consulate’s continuum of care, attaining better clinical measures, and protecting patients’ health data.
“This Wi-Fi deployment positions Consulate Health Care for mobile point of care solutions, telemedicine opportunities, and of course, the connectivity that is required for our Electronic Health Record platform,” said Crandall. “We needed to find a partner that would be able to help us roll out a scalable, supportable solution to our care centers across the 21 states that we serve. Aruba has proven to offer a comprehensive and efficient solution that ensures wireless network availability and secure communication among our staff, patients, administrators and guests.”
Currently, Consulate has 1,900 Aruba Instant access points deployed throughout its corporate offices and care centers, and that number will increase to 2,700 when the rollout is complete. Consulate Health Care also uses Aruba mobility controllers and Remote Access Points (RAPs) to support its corporate offices and remote employees.
In addition, Consulate is using Aruba ClearPass to enable reliable and secure guest access and the organization’s Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. ClearPass Policy Manager with Guest is used to authenticate the wide range of devices used internally as well as those brought onto the network by guests and visitors. With ClearPass, Consulate can offer its care center patients and their family members, simple, self-enrollment for Internet access that doesn’t affect the internal network. Consulate also uses Aruba’s AirWave Network Management System to manage, update, secure and troubleshoot the network.
Consulate currently supports Care Touch screens throughout a handful of its care centers and with the new wireless infrastructure now in place, plans to add more medical equipment to the network in the near future. Point of care mobile devices and location-based services are areas the provider will evaluate in the near future, as well.
“Mobility has become strategic in allowing healthcare organizations to meet their business objectives,” said Jeff Dolce, Area Vice President for Aruba Networks. “With a secure and reliable mobility infrastructure in place, these organizations can innovate in areas like mobile patient care, electronic medical records, and telemedicine. Consulate Health Care is a great example of how the right wireless infrastructure can enable more efficient and effective health care.”
Additional Resources:
Airheads Social: http://community.arubanetworks.com/
Consulate Health Care is the sixth-largest provider of senior healthcare services in the nation and the largest provider in Florida, specializing in post-acute care. We are a leading healthcare organization offering services ranging from comprehensive short-term rehabilitation and transitional care to Alzheimer’s and dementia care. Our compassionate caregivers carry out our mission every day of “Providing Service with Our Hearts and Hands”, caring for our patients like family, not because it’s their job, but because it’s their calling. For more information about our nationwide family of dedicated health care providers or to explore exciting career opportunities, please visit us at www.consulatehealthcare.com.
Jennifer Trapp, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Consulate Health Care
+1-407-571-1550
Jennifer.L.Trapp@consulatehealthcare.com
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company designs and delivers Mobility-Defined Networks that empower IT departments and #GenMobile, a new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for every aspect of work and personal communication. To create a mobility experience that #GenMobile and IT can rely upon, Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks™ automate infrastructure-wide performance optimization and trigger security actions that used to require manual IT intervention. The results are dramatically improved productivity and lower operational costs.
Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com. For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook, and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.
Pavel Radda, Director of Corporate Communications
Aruba Networks, Inc.
+1-408-419-0294
OR
Lori Hultin, Principal
LSH Communications for Aruba Networks
+1-818-879-4651
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